Happy New Year!

May you and yours be blessed in the coming year.
Ruinwen
:)

Sorry for the short post. But I have not missed a post the entire year and starting now would be unthinkable. Bright blessings everyone.

I Believe...

I believe in Santa Claus. I always have…and I always will.

Faith can be defined as “belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.”

To me, he is a magical spirit that descends once a year to remind us all of how blessed we are. He comes down the chimney, the heart of our home, to answer the deepest wish in each person’s heart the best that he can.

For physical things, he has helpers that he whispers to that arrange for a special gift…you may know one of them.

He follows the law of Karma and each person gets back what they themselves have given to others throughout the year.

I get goosebumps every year when NORAD says that he is one state down. The tradition in our house is to get to bed quick as soon as he’s over PA. Milk, cookies, and carrots are put out for our guests as an offering of thanks for another year with loved ones and all the amazing blessings that we have been given.

Thank you, Santa Claus, for the family gathered here…they are the greatest blessing…the most wonderful treasure that I could ask for. Thank you for my readers; many who are now dear friends…please extend your love and light to them as well and grant them each a special beautiful holiday wish.

So mote it be.

Dear Editor—
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O’Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Happy Holidays! Whatever you celebrate may your heart be full of joy and happiness.

Bright blessings,
Ruinwen
:)

A Flurry of Thought

Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths, or the turning inwards in prayer for five short minutes.

-- Etty Hillesum

As I write this snow is falling, plows are running, people are shoveling and children are hoping there will be no school tomorrow.

I've always loved the quiet beauty of snowflakes. It is said that no two are alike...how amazing is that?

I had an enlightening meditative bath last night...and like the snow outside...one thought gave way to another...and another until I was immersed in a contemplative storm.

I was so relaxed that afterward I fell right asleep and I was humming to myself when I woke up.

I love moments like that...that change us and somehow make everything seem new and shinning.

I keep waiting for the stress of the holidays to hit me...but instead, I keep feeling more empowered. I've finished shopping. I only have two more breads to make and then my baking will be done. The wrapping is almost done. I've already made a desert for Yule dinner. I got out Holiday cards. I've sent gifts to all those I can't see right now. So, on the whole, I am good.

Maybe...just maybe I'm getting more organized every year.

I mean I know there is no tree and little decorations but really the holiday is not about that...it is about light being returned to the world. And that light is reborn in each of us. So this holiday to me is about family and celebrating that light within each of us that we all share.

I honor the place in you in which the entire Universe dwells, I honor the place in you which is of Love, of Integrity, of Wisdom and of Peace. When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, we are One.

Namaste

For those that celebrate I wish you a Blessed Yule. May the light of the season be reborn in your hearts.

Bright Blessings,

Ruinwen

:)

I'm Dreaming of a Stressless Yule

You never will be the person you can be if pressure, tension and discipline are taken out of your life.

-- James G. Bilkey

Can you believe it? The two cats can actually eat next to each other without hissing or spitting. This doesn't mean that Widdershins is happy that Shadow is her brother. There still lots of tension between them and all of it is coming from her.

That which does not kill us makes us stronger. Nietzsche

I wonder if that is the whole point of all this rushing around and trying to make it through the season with our minds intact. Just maybe when our day of light rolls around and all the gifts are wrapped...the meal is set before us and the house is as good as it will get...we can stop and say "we survived another year."

And hopefully all that rushing around and creating enough stress to make one question their sanity will allow us a shining moment with family and friends that makes everything worthwhile.

But right now it is hard to see that the light that is soon to be reborn whether in the sky, through burning oil or lying in a manger; is deep within us. We all contain a miracle just waiting to to birthed into existence. But right now there are presents to be bought and decorations that won't hang themselves. And let us not forget those pesky cards that must be adressed and written.

This year I have tried to give up my recent holiday tradition of taking on too much, spending way too much money and stressing myself beyond what my poor body and mind can handle.

This year I did my shopping early, planned meals way ahead of time, and I hope to decorate this weekend. At least my Samhain pillow will get swapped for an angel one...Hey it's the effort right?

We won't attempt a tree...not even a small one. There just isn't space and Shadow would total it on the days we aren't here. But if you have one could you please do something for me? One of my silly little favorite things to do during the holidays is to turn the lights off and watch the patterns that the blinking lights make on the ceiling. I really miss that.

I will miss going to my parents and all the wonderful things that took for granted; cookies, putting up the tree, Mom's eggnog...anything cooked by Mom...Dad's roasts...I even miss going to Mass with Dad.

It is my turn now to make the memories that my son will hopefully fondly one day remember.

*sigh*

I wish you all a wonderful weekend,

Ruinwen

:)

1 + 1 = 4

"Believe it can be done. When you believe something can be done, really believe, your mind will find the ways to do it. Believing a solution paves the way to solution."
-- Dr. David Schwartz

I have admitted in the past that Math problems boggle my mind at times. People doubt the validity of that statement since I knit. And in knitting sometimes you have to use Math *gasp* to figure out gauge or resize a project. Actually, since I started knitting I find I use Math more then I ever did.

So you can understand my frustration at these words in my pattern.

Keep decreasing until you have 20 stitches on the needle.
Row 1: Bind off 20 stitches and purl 6 stitches (you should now have six stitches)

Ummm…okay?!? Where did those 6 stitches come from?

I left the knitting over night to see if some magical knitting elves would find my missing 6 stitches and leave them for me…but that didn’t work out so well and I ripped the whole mess out not knowing where to go from there.

And I’m over it.

New day, new pattern…I actually read this one first to make sure it makes a modicum of sense before diving into it and finding that the errata is above and beyond my skill of knowing where to go next. This is why I make a lot of my patterns from scratch. It is so much easier to follow the ramblings in my head then someone else’s. But making up a pattern takes time and that is something that I’m short on.

But back to my point. Always read the pattern all the way through. I constantly say this to all my students; so why I thought that the Fates would allow me to slip by without having my own words bite me is just plain folly on my part.

And that is what I get for trying to cut corners…sigh.

So, I’m going into this new pattern with my eyes open and hopefully next week I will have something to show for it.

I hope you all have a beautiful weekend.
Ruinwen
:)